美国财政部10月22日提出一项新的监管规则,计划进一步限制美国企业和个人向中国、俄罗斯、伊朗、朝鲜、古巴等被美国列为“受关注国家”的对象进行特定高科技投资。新规旨在防止美国资本帮助相关国家提升军事能力、发展先进技术及扩大情报和监控能力,也是美国持续强化对外投资国家安全审查的一部分。
这项提案是在美国现有对外投资安全计划的基础上进行扩展。2023年,时任美国总统拜登签署行政命令,对美国资本投资中国半导体、量子计算和人工智能等领域实施限制,随后美国财政部建立了对外投资安全计划。2025年12月,美国国会又通过《综合对外投资国家安全法》,将相关机制写入法律,并扩大了受限制的国家和技术范围。
此次财政部提出的规则,进一步明确了如何落实国会要求,并对部分投资行为实行禁止或申报制度。根据美国政府的解释,相关措施旨在防止美国资金帮助被认定为潜在对手的国家发展可能用于军事现代化、情报活动、监控体系和网络攻击的技术。
在技术范围方面,新规涵盖先进半导体与微电子、人工智能系统、量子信息技术、高性能计算与超级计算、超高音速系统等领域,并将生物技术纳入监管范围。美国财政部认为,某些先进生物技术可能被用于开发生物武器、脑机接口等敏感用途,也可能影响美国关键供应链的安全,因此有必要扩大审查范围。
人工智能是此次提案的重点之一。美国财政部在规则中使用了“超级智能”(Superintelligence)一词描述相关人工智能系统,并提出对目标国家特定人工智能技术投资实施禁止或申报要求。财政部认为,过去两年人工智能技术发展迅速,部分先进模型的能力和潜在用途不断变化,监管机构在界定技术边界、判断风险方面面临新的挑战。
根据提案,美国投资者涉及相关国家和技术领域的部分交易,将被要求向财政部报告;另一些被认定风险更高的交易则可能被直接禁止。具体适用范围取决于投资对象、交易形式、技术类别及规则中规定的技术参数,并非所有涉及中国科技企业的投资都会自动受到限制。
提案还规定了美国个人及受其控制的外国实体可能承担的义务,包括在开展交易前进行合理、审慎的调查,以确认交易对象是否属于受监管范围。财政部希望通过这些要求,避免美国投资者以不了解交易对象或相关技术为由规避监管。
不过,相关规则并非涵盖所有金融投资。美国财政部提出的框架对部分交易设置了例外,其中包括许多普通证券投资。提案同时规定,纳入特定监管范围的投资交易需要达到相应条件;美联社报道指出,相关规则涉及超过5万美元的投资门槛,但该门槛并不意味着所有超过这一金额的交易都会被禁止,是否适用仍取决于具体交易类别和规则要求。
美国财政部将就这份提案征求公众意见,之后才会发布最终实施规则。最终规则将明确生效日期以及具体执行要求。因此,目前公布的仍是拟议监管框架,而非所有条款已经正式生效。
美国政府近年来持续通过出口管制、投资审查和供应链政策限制中国获取部分先进技术。此前,美国已对先进人工智能芯片及相关制造设备出口实施多轮限制。与出口管制主要针对技术和产品跨境流动不同,对外投资审查关注的是美国资本、专业知识和商业关系可能为相关技术发展提供的支持。
美国财政部认为,资金投入不仅能够帮助企业购买设备和扩大研发,也可能加速军事相关技术的开发。美国民主基金会高级研究员克雷格·辛格尔顿表示,这项提案向市场释放了一个信号,即华盛顿正在密切关注美国资本的流向,以及这些资金正在帮助建立哪些技术能力。
曾任美国司法部律师、现任威尔默黑尔律师事务所合伙人的杰森·奇普曼则指出,新规可能要求企业建立更完善的合规机制,以识别潜在风险并确保交易符合监管要求。
美国前贸易官员瑞安·马杰鲁斯认为,这只是一个相对漫长的监管完善过程的开始,后续措施可能进一步强化执行力度。企业在投资中国及其他受关注国家的相关科技领域时,可能需要投入更多资源进行法律审查、交易筛查和内部风险管理。
值得注意的是,新规出台之际,中美两国此前曾尝试缓和贸易和科技摩擦。美国总统特朗普与中国国家主席习近平此前达成暂时缓和紧张关系的安排,并在近期延长相关休战期限至2027年1月。然而,双方围绕先进芯片、稀土和关键技术的竞争仍在继续。
美国政府近期的执法行动也显示,对外投资监管已经开始产生实际影响。今年7月,美国财政部曾对一家总部位于美国的公司处以20万美元罚款,原因是该公司未按要求报告其一家子公司对中国一家人工智能与机器人企业进行的9.25万美元投资。
整体来看,美国此次拟议规则进一步扩大了对外投资安全审查的技术覆盖面,并为禁止高风险交易和要求特定交易申报提供了更明确的法律框架。对于中国科技企业而言,来自美国资本的部分投资可能面临更严格的审查,尤其是涉及先进人工智能、半导体、量子技术、超级计算和特定生物技术的项目。不过,具体影响仍需等待最终规则公布,不能简单理解为美国资金将全面退出中国科技行业。
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On 22 October, the United States Department of the Treasury introduced a new regulation that plans to further limit United States enterprises and individuals from investing in specific high-tech investments in China, Russia, Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Cuba and other countries classified by the United States as “the countries of concern”. The new regulations are aimed at preventing United States capital from helping the countries concerned to upgrade their military capabilities, develop advanced technology and expand their intelligence and surveillance capabilities, and are part of the ongoing strengthening of United States foreign investment national security reviews.
This proposal builds on existing United States OFDI security plans. In 2023, the then United States President Biden signed an executive order imposing restrictions on capital investment by the United States in areas such as semiconductor, quantum computing and artificial intelligence in China, following which the United States Treasury Department established an OFDI security plan. In December 2025, the United States Congress passed the Comprehensive Foreign Investment National Security Act, which incorporates the relevant mechanisms into law and expands the restricted national and technological scope.
The rules presented by the Ministry of Finance on this occasion provide further clarity on how to implement the requirements of Congress and introduce a ban or declaration system for some of the investments. According to the United States Government, the measures are designed to prevent United States funds from helping countries identified as potential opponents to develop technologies that could be used for military modernization, intelligence activities, surveillance systems and cyberattacks.
In terms of technology coverage, the new regulations cover areas such as advanced semiconductors and microelectronics, artificial intelligence systems, quantum information technology, high performance and supercalculation, ultra-high speed systems and include biotechnology in regulatory coverage. The United States Treasury Department believes that certain advanced biotechnologies may be used to develop sensitive uses such as biological weapons, brain interfaces, and may also affect the security of key United States supply chains, hence the need to expand the scope of the review.
Artificial intelligence is one of the priorities of this proposal. The United States Treasury uses the term SuperIntelligence in its rules to describe the relevant artificial intelligence systems and to impose prohibitions or declaration requirements on investments in specific artificial intelligence technologies in target countries. According to the Ministry of Finance, over the past two years, the development of artificial intelligence has been rapid, the capabilities and potential uses of some advanced models have evolved, and regulators have faced new challenges in defining technological boundaries and judging risks.
According to the proposal, United States investors would be required to report to the Treasury for part of their transactions involving relevant countries and technical areas; other transactions found to be more risky might be directly prohibited. The specific scope of application depends on the target audience, the form of the transaction, the type of technology and the technical parameters set out in the rules, and not all investments involving Chinese science and technology enterprises are automatically restricted.
The proposal also sets out the obligations that individuals in the United States and foreign entities under its control may have, including by conducting reasonable and careful investigations prior to conducting transactions to ascertain whether the subject is subject to regulation. Through these requirements, the Treasury wishes to avoid United States investors circumventing regulation on the grounds that they do not know the subject of the transaction or the relevant technology.
However, the rules do not cover all financial investments. The framework proposed by the United States Treasury makes exceptions to some transactions, including many general portfolio investments. At the same time, the proposal states that investment transactions that are included in a particular regulatory context are subject to the corresponding conditions; Associated Press reports that the rules relate to investment thresholds that exceed $50,000, but that this threshold does not mean that all transactions that exceed that amount will be prohibited and that their application will still depend on the type of transaction and the requirements of the rules.
The United States Treasury Department will consult with the public on the proposal before publish will finally implement the rules. The final rules would specify the effective date and the specific requirements for implementation. As a result, the proposed regulatory framework is still being published and not all provisions have entered into force.
In recent years, the United States Government has continued to restrict China ' s access to some advanced technologies through export controls, investment reviews and supply chain policies. Previously, the United States had introduced multiple-wheel restrictions on the export of advanced artificial intelligence chips and related manufacturing equipment. Unlike export controls, which mainly target the cross-border movement of technology and products, the OFDI review is concerned with the potential support that United States capital, expertise and business relationships may provide for relevant technological developments.
The United States Treasury Department believes that financial investment can help businesses not only purchase equipment and expand research and development, but also accelerate the development of military-related technologies. Craig Singhton, Senior Researcher of the United States Democracy Foundation, stated that the proposal sent a signal to the market that Washington was following closely the flow of United States capital and what technical capacity those funds were helping to build.
Jason Chipman, a former attorney in the United States Department of Justice and currently a partner in Wilmeher Law, pointed out that the new regulations might require businesses to establish better compliance mechanisms to identify potential risks and ensure that transactions conform to regulatory requirements.
According to Ryan Magerus, a former United States trade official, this is only the beginning of a relatively long regulatory improvement process, and follow-up measures may further enhance enforcement. Enterprises may need to invest more resources in legal review, trade screening and internal risk management when investing in relevant areas of science and technology in China and other countries of concern.
It is worth noting that at the time of the introduction of the new regulations, both countries had previously attempted to ease trade and scientific and technological friction. The President of the United States, Trump, and the President of China, Xi Jinping, had previously agreed on a temporary easing of tensions and had recently extended the related truce until January 2027. However, competition continues around advanced chips, rare earth and key technologies.
Recent enforcement actions by the United States Government have also shown that OFDI regulation has begun to have a real impact. In July this year, the United States Department of the Treasury imposed a $200,000 fine on a company based in the United States for failing to report the required $9.25 million investment of one of its subsidiaries in an artificial intelligence and robotics enterprise in China.
Overall, the proposed United States regulation further expanded the technical coverage of the OFDI security review and provided a clearer legal framework for prohibiting high-risk transactions and requiring specific transaction declarations. For Chinese science and technology enterprises, part of the investment from United States capital may face more rigorous scrutiny, particularly projects involving advanced artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum technology, supercalculations and specific biotechnology. However, the concrete impact is still to await the publication of the final rules, which cannot simply be understood as implying that United States funds will withdraw from the Chinese science and technology industry altogether.
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